Tahlequah Resident Sentenced For Manslaughter In Indian Country

MUSKOGEE, OKLAHOMA – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma announced that Keia Marie Beaver, age 33, of Tahlequah, Oklahoma, was sentenced to 64 months in prison for Voluntary Manslaughter in Indian Country.

The charges arose from investigations by the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

On May 9, 2022, Beaver pleaded guilty to Voluntary Manslaughter in Indian Country.  At the plea hearing, Beaver admitted that on October 17, 2017, she shot and killed the victim in the heat of passion. The investigation revealed Beaver transported the victim to the hospital after the shooting and initially told law enforcement the gun accidentally went off while she was loading it.  Later, Beaver admitted to shooting the victim during an argument.

The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma prosecuted this case because the defendant is a member of a federally recognized Indian tribe and the crime occurred in Cherokee County, within the boundaries of the Cherokee Nation Reservation and the Eastern District of Oklahoma.

The Honorable Ronald A. White, Chief District Judge in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, presided over the hearing in Muskogee.  Beaver will remain in custody of the U.S. Marshal pending transportation to a designated United States Bureau of Prisons facility to serve a non-paroleable sentence of incarceration.

Assistant United States Attorney Richard Lorenz represented the United States at sentencing.